16

Jul

Peace and Prosperity:  India is the fourth player in Contemporary Geopolitics

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Gopal Misra

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New Delhi | Tuesday | July 16, 2024

In contemporary geopolitics, China, Russia and the US occupy the high diplomacy table. India despite being denied a permanent seat in the UN Security Council continues to work for peace.

 

During the past three decades, the US-led West found a new financial ally in China. Their love blossomed, crippling the West’s post-World War -II rival, USSR, and finally dismantling it into several countries. The Western powers found China’s cheap labour accompanied by the contemporary unipolar world led by the USA as the sole superpower. Both the US and the West have successfully used the repressive exploitative anti-labour Communist regime in China as the manufacturing hub for their products.

 

 

This intimacy was so deep that they accepted China’s occupation of Tibet and also couldn’t raise any substantial opposition to the end of democracy in Hong Kong. The Russian Federation, the successor state of the USSR, has successfully retained its close strategic ties with Beijing and New Delhi. Despite the weakening of its economic power, Russia has maintained its formidable military presence.

 

Article at a Glance

In the current geopolitical landscape, China, Russia, and the US are the dominant players. Despite not having a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, India continues to work towards peace.

The US-led West has had a long-standing financial alliance with China, which has enabled China to become an economic superpower. However, this has led to growing tensions between the US and China, with the US trying to contain China's global influence.

Meanwhile, India has maintained a non-assertive presence in the power play among the three nations. The US and its allies have been conducting massive trade with China, despite their criticisms of China's growing dominance. China, in turn, has been supporting Russia in its conflict with Ukraine, without facing any significant opposition from the West.

India's close economic ties with Russia have been criticized by the Western media, but this criticism is seen as hypocritical given the West's own significant trade with China. India's efforts to promote peace, including its recent diplomatic initiatives, are genuine and commendable, despite its limited resources.

India's role in the current power play is significant, and its efforts towards peace are crucial in the face of growing global tensions.

 

 

 

It is stated that deep intimacy among humans often brews alienation if not disenchantment. This phenomenon, perhaps, is witnessed even in geopolitics. The fragile power game is being witnessed due to the growing assertion of China as an economic superpower. It has caused dismay in the West, especially Beijing’s growing influence in the areas considered their stronghold.

 

The US strategic and economic ties with China have blossomed during the past 54 years. It helped America to become the only superpower, and successfully dismantled its rival, the USSR, but the growing Chinese assertion has upset this time-tested alliance.

 

The dependence of the US and its allies on China reveals that their intense honeymoon of five decades with Beijing is over. It had begun during the seventies with the visit of the then US President Richard Nixon and his Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger. Their noises against Dragon resemble the wailing of old wives protesting against their spouses. On the other hand, India has retained her modest non-assertive presence in the contemporary power play among the three powers.

 

 

The US policy to contain China’s global presence, especially its growing dominance in the Asia Pacific reveals that it is noisy without any substantial effort. Meanwhile, China, however, continues to be the manufacturing hub of the US-led West.

 

Amidst their noisy bickerings, the two erstwhile lovers, have conducted a record business to the tune of USD 664.5 billion in 2024. The other US allies, the European Union, Japan and ASEAN countries have also been conducting huge trade with China. It is estimated that during the current year, their trade has been to the tune of USD 911.7  266.4 and 739 billion respectively.

 

It is intriguing that despite its vital financial interests with the US and its allies, China has consistently been supporting Russia in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The West has raised no issues with China yet.

 

The role of the Western media adversely commenting on the warm Indian ties with Russia appears to be ridiculous. Either, the Western media is so innocent that it is not aware of the fact that the India -Russia trade is much below the trade the West is having with China or it deliberately didn’t study the contemporary trade ties of the West with China.

 

Therefore, their criticism of India for having close economic ties with Russia, especially in the context of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, reminds us of a crocodile shedding tears on its victims. Also, it is not surprising that few take the comment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a comedian-turned-politician, against the recently held warm meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin seriously.

 

Despite the warm reception accorded to Modi in Moscow, it will take at least five years for the two countries to achieve a 100 USD billion trade. The trade between the two countries had suffered due to the introduction of US dollars in the India-Russia trade following the fragmentation of the USSR. Earlier, India was doing business with the USSR in rupees. Apart from the discontinuation of the trade in rupees, the Russian Federation had also ended the India-Russia Peace Treaty signed in 1971. However, the confidence of Russia was restored in India during the regime of Putin.

 

 

During the nineties, when the USSR was fragmented, India didn’t exploit the successor state, the Russian Federation. India allowed Russia to import necessary goods by encashing the rouble at the previous exchange rates.

 

Both Indians and Russians are known for remembering their friends and foes.

 

The Indian plea for ending the Ukraine-Russia conflict before Putin is a bold initiative. However, much depends upon the US and its allies. Peace, perhaps, will only be possible if the West’s military-industrial complex agrees. There is no denying that the conflict has caused human tragedy in Eastern Europe. Therefore, it is not surprising that a section of the American supporters in the European Union has criticized the visits of the Hungarian PM, Viktor Orban, who recently assumed the presidency of the European Union, to Ukraine, Russia and China for a peaceful solution to the conflict.

 

The Indian diplomacy under Modi to promote peace is a genuine effort towards ending the conflict. India despite her limited resources has been championing peace. She is, indeed, the fourth element in the current power play in the contemporary world.

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